Juicing 3-Day Challenge: Day 3 (End Day)

With Day 3 now over I wanted to reflect on the experience. I can understand why juicing isn't for everyone. It's expensive, time consuming, and certainly not easy to stick too. What I will say is that even having only done the 3-day challenge I felt much more energy in the mornings then I usually feel and I lost 5 pounds in three days. That's not bad. Juicing is a great way to Reboot your system and I can definitely say my cravings for the sweets while not gone has definitely been curbed.

What I will say is that it has to be something you really want to do. The hunger feelings were sometimes hard to manage but the reward I feel was worth it. You also need to make sure if you have a family that they support your choice and assist you. Its very hard to have people around you eating delicious but bad food while you are sustaining yourself on produce and fruit juices.

While I will admit this I enjoyed the process I see it as something I will occasionally do to kickstart better eating habits but I don't have the will power to sustain an all juice diet for much longer then the 3-days I did it. I will admit that there were a few juices that I would and could see myself making because they tasted delicious. The Morning Sunrise and the Peach Pie Delight are worth it.

Juicing 3-Day Challenge: Day 2 (Hump Day)

Day two was a repeat of Day 1’s recipes. It was today that the craving for something sweet really hit me. It took all my will power to resist the urge to run a dollar through the vending machine for a snickers bar.

I forced myself to drink more water then I had the day before and I felt much more energy than I had the first day. The increase in water definitely helped with the hunger and kept me on track.

At lunch time I went to the gym with a co-worker and took a circuit training class. It was a great workout but the burpee’s really took a lot out of me and the lack of anything of real substance in my stomach definitely lead to pretty serious dizzies. I didn’t lose my juice but it was close. I took a quick ice cold shower after to bring my body down to temp and kept my afternoon pretty low key.

My afternoon juice definitely gave me some energy back and when I got home I was glad that I didn’t have any bad food left over or hanging around. With nothing but my produce in the fridge I made my dinner and dessert juices before taking it easy and calling it an early night.

One thing I have noticed is that I woke up more energetic today then I had felt in a long time. That is something I hope continues. Tomorrow I'm going to start my day juicing but every Friday the guys and I go out for lunch and as much as I'd like to say i could go and drink my juice it isn't going to happen. I'll just focus on picking something healthy like a salad.
 

Juicing 3-Day Challenge: Day 1 (The Beginning)

Standing 5’10 and after a morning weigh in of 185lbs typical BMI calculators clock me in at 26.1. I just miss being considered normal weight and instead fall into the overweight category but I am hopeful that this reboot will not just help me shed a few pounds but will help break me of my sweet cravings. As I wrap up day 1 I was surprised at a few things. Of the 5 different juice options I picked I didn’t really find any that were unpalatable.

Knowing that I needed to bring my lunch and afternoon juices with me it took me only about 20 minutes to juice everything and clean up before leaving the house in the morning. I did end up with a full waste container and clean up was a breeze with the Breville composting bags I picked up by recommendation.

My morning “Orange” juice was called Sunrise and consisted of 4 carrots, 2 oranges and 1 beet. It was sweet and refreshing and actually pretty good. I packed up my lunch and afternoon juices in a cooler and took my coconut water with me.

I already knew I liked coconut water so that was an easy one. I was pleased that I hadn’t really had any hunger cravings yet and by lunch time I was still feeling pretty good. My lunch juice was a “Green” Garden Variety and had 2 apples, 2 cucumbers, 8 kale leaves and a handful of parsley. The apples and cucumbers really were the dominant flavors in this one and it again tasted pretty good.

As the afternoon went on I started to feel cravings about 1:30 for something sweet. I tried to combat that by drinking more water and while it didn’t satisfy the cravings I wasn’t hungry. My Mid-Afternoon juice was a “Red” Un-Beet-able. It’s made from 1 apple, 1 beet 3 carrots, 1 small piece of ginger root and 3 cups of spinach. I think I might have put a tad too much ginger since it definitely had a zing to it but it wasn’t bad and it satisfied me

For dinner I decided to go with the “Green” Green Lemonade. More kale which I was a tad disappointed with the amount of juice it yielded, 3 handfuls of spinach, 1 green apple, 1 cucumber, 2 celery stocks and 1 lemon. It was a little bitter but not too bad and went down with out much trouble.

For dessert I picked a “Purple” Peach Pie Delight. The only real strange ingredient in this one was the sweet potato. The 2 peaches, 1 red apple, 1 handful of blueberries and a dash of cinnamon all made sense to me. It was delicious. I might have to pick up some more peaches to make this again tomorrow.

Juicing 3-Day Challenge: Day 0 (Shop & Prep)

Well this is it folks! Tomorrow morning I start my 3-Day" Reboot with Joe" Juicing Challenge. I am both excited and nervous. As someone with a pretty bad sweet tooth and a distaste for being hungry this might be a struggle to finish.

To prepare I figured I should unboxed my Juicer and made sure everything was operational. I sacrificed a seedless grape. The juicer is fairly quiet as far as juicer's go but I hope I don't wake the neighbors in the morning with my juicing.

I also went grocery shopping today and picked up all the ingredients. Some were harder then others to find and I had to go to two different grocery stores to complete my shopping list. I partly blame the fact that I live in a college town and I shouldn't have been surprised to discover that all the mint was gone. I also oddly struggled to find beets. I added a few pictures below of my prepared juicer, the receipts for the roughly $70 bucks in fruits, vegies and herbs needed and a huge pile of produce I will hopefully consume over the next 3 days or 72 hours.

Juicing My Way to a Healthy Me

I sell juicers often while working at my part time job and one of the bonus items customers get with the Breville juicers is the movie Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead. Intrigued I watched it on Netflix and watched Joe the Juicer transform his life and become healthier through juicing.

Joe Cross better known now as Joe the Juicer stared is an Australian film maker who finds himself overweight at nearly 310lbs and battling a debilitating autoimmune disorder. Realizing that the doctor he was seeing and medication  he was taking was only treating his symptoms he found himself having to take a more active roll in getting healthy. To gain control of his life and failing health he decided to focus on a better diet.  The movie / documentary chronicles this battle during a cross country trek where he engages with every day Americans in discussions about health and obesity. His challenge to himself was a 60-day juice challenge and while driving cross country he used a generator, his juicer, and fresh produce he purchased along the way to sustain his dietary needs. As the story was told you could really see a transformation in his physical appearance. He literally was shedding the pounds.

While I wouldn't describe myself as overweight my BMI is hovering at 26 so technically speaking I would be considered overweight but just barely. His story inspired me to buy a juicer myself and see what juicing could do for me. I recently purchased a Breville Juice Fountain Elite.

I am going to start with the 3-Day Challenge I pulled off Joe the Juicer's website "Reboot with Joe". I figured it can't hurt to give it a try and maybe it will help me shed a few pounds before Hawaii. I am going to start on Wednesday since I have too much going on this weekend and a busy start of the week and don't want to stray from the guide. I'll keep you updated on my progress.

Some people who have done it have noted that they got a tad cranky and were more irritable. Hopefully I won't be too cranky or irritable as a result of this juicing challenge.